Device helps doctors, patients find a common language

Friday

Oct 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMOct 31, 2008 at 9:39 PM

Glancing over at a new interpreting device Thursday, MetroWest Medical Center CEO Andrei Soran drew laughs from the crowd when he asked the man on the screen how many languages were available and got no response.

Michael Morton

Glancing over at a new interpreting device Thursday, MetroWest Medical Center CEO Andrei Soran drew laughs from the crowd when he asked the man on the screen how many languages were available and got no response.

"Do you remember?" he asked. "Can you hear me?"

Known as Martti, or my accessible real-time trusted interpreter, the device allows information to be quickly conveyed between medical staff and patients who either don't speak English or who use sign language. It can be easily wheeled around the hospital and features a rechargeable battery lasting six to eight hours and a 19-inch monitor for video conferencing.

Thanks to a $95,000 federal earmark secured by U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, D-7th, MetroWest Medical Center plans to buy seven units for its hospitals in Framingham and Natick. Staff said the equipment represents the first of its kind in the MetroWest and Milford regions.

"We're grateful for the ability to have these at our hospital," Soran told Markey during a presentation at Framingham Union Hospital, adding that the units from Language Access Network would ensure speedy delivery of quality care.

Up until recently, the medical center relied exclusively on Spanish and Portuguese interpreters on its staff, with people speaking other languages coming in upon request. While they could also use a phone-based language service, staff said they and their patients found the method too cold and impersonal.

Thanks to the federal grant, staff will now be able to wheel in the Martti units for additional assistance and to alleviate wait times or backups. The system relies on the hospitals' existing wireless networks, with information transmitted through an encrypted broadband connection separate from the Internet to ensure medical confidentiality.

For more common languages like Spanish and Portuguese, a video conference feed will quickly come up between the hospital and an interpreter at Language Access Network's Columbus, Ohio, headquarters, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Other languages, like Somali Maay Maay, will involve just an audio feed patched through to an interpreter who could be anywhere in the country.

"There's such a demand for language services all over the United States," Language Access Network COO Andrew Panos said, adding that his product is cost-effective and helps assure patients that they are being properly taken care of. "We look at it as an additional tool in a kind of tool set."

All the company's interpreters receive medical training. During a product demonstration, Portuguese speaker Marcelo Assis appeared on the screen from the company's Columbus office. A former Framingham resident, he said he enjoyed his work.

"It's very challenging," he said. "You don't know what you're going to face."